Questions tagged [books]
Questions about the English Language, with the cause for the question found in books read by the Original Poster.
123
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"In sober fact" meaning
What does "in sober fact" mean.
I know that "in fact", is used to emphasize the truth of something, especially when it may seem contrary.
However, adding sober must somehow change ...
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1
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Usage of "may" instead of "might" in the past context
I came across the following sentence while reading "A Clash of Kings" book by George R. R. Martin:
Whitetree was the fourth village they had passed, and it had been the
same in all of them. ...
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3
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What is the origin of the verb 'foxed' in reference to book condition?
I ordered a book online, unseen, and the invoice told me the book, or at least its pages, were 'foxed'. I had never come across the expression, did not know the word could be a verb and discovered :
...
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0
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Zero article usage before countable nouns [duplicate]
I came across the following sentence while reading "A Clash of Kings" book by George R. R. Martin:
He liked to watch the windows begin to glow all over Winterfell as
candles and hearth ...
- 123
4
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2
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300
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What is a good synonym for a literally "small book"?
I am writing the preface to a small book (4" x 6" with 200+ pages) where I have already used the term "small book". The opportunity to use the term again arose shortly thereafter ...
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Usage of crutch when referred to avoid
Recently, while going through a book I encounter this statement.
Try to avoid the crutch of saying "I feel like." As in, "I feel like you are being mean to me."
I am trying to ...
- 103
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2
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102
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What does "The 300 Light infantry" mean?
Text from Osprey Publishing, the book Saratoga 1777: Turning Point of a Revolution by Brendon Morrissey:
Advance Guard: Col Daniel Morgan
The riflemen had 374 all ranks fit and present out of 578 (...
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1
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253
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How to Read Picture/Image Index in Book
Often when I read a book and see an image or picture, there's always something like "picture 1-a" or "1.a". Sometimes it's also written in the following form "Picture 1.10&...
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What is easy english book you would recommend me to read? (for ESL) [closed]
It can be fiction, a novel, or something else with a plot. At least 200 pages.
It should have preferably VERY easy vocabulary because my task will be to translate a random part of this book and also ...
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Please clarify the meaing of "the emigrants made open profession of ..." [closed]
Can you help me to understand this sentence from a book?
The emigrants made open profession of ... (Judaism)
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What is the meaning of interpolation technique as in "using an interpolation technique to deduce facts"?
What is the meaning of interpolation technique as in using an interpolation technique to deduce facts (a book review)
Rice, Edward.
1990. Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography. New York, ...
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"Round" versus "around" in contexts where "around" seems right?
In Tolkien's book The Hobbit, he constantly writes "round" when it seems to me as if it should be "around". Not just in one or a few places, but all the time. There is no way that ...
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"Why, ..." and "..., why?" meaning [closed]
I'm reading the Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn book to learn English and I wonder why he's using this "Why, ..." and what does it mean
For example:
"Too proud to crawl?" Kelsier ...
13
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2
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What does "Hamlet stool" mean?
I have read this in Maugham's "Theatre":
She wrote her letters at a satinwood desk, seated on a gilt Hamlet stool.
[Source (PDF)]
What does it mean?
I have googled it and found tens of ...
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There is this sentence in the book "Fight Club" and I don't quite understand the verbs that are used, can you help me?
I'm reading a book called Fight Club and there is this sentence that got me confused:
Marla had started going to support groups after she found the first lump.
Now, past perfect is used in this ...
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What is "almost-grown cologne"? [closed]
And when I was thirteen
Shawn welcomed me into teenage life
with a spritz of his almost-grown cologne,
said my girlfriend—
my first girlfriend—
would like it.
But she hated it
so I broke up with ...
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Synonym for un-scientific book by researcher
I am looking for a synonym for a kind of book/genre, that contains interesting information, but is not aimed at the scientific community, being polemical / political and not stringent enough to be ...
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How would you write the word /ˈtɪə.rɒn/? [closed]
I'm writing a book and made a word called /ˈtɪə.rɒn/ (reading it like TEARdrop + iRON, or something like TEARON). The story is supposed to be medieval fantasy and I'm not a native speaker so I'm not ...
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1
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252
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Why is there a space in the bowdlerised "L– ." in Jane Eyre?
I have been reading Jane Eyre recently and came across a sentence the other day:
...and away we rattled over the “stony street” of L— .
There is a blank between "–" and the full stop, which ...
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What is the humor in "water's warm and deep" while relieving oneself?
The two men halted at the edge of the canal, hiked their tunics, then
fumbled with their loincloths. Soon two arcs were gurgling across the
filmy surface. “Hmm,” Xinemus said. “The water’s warm.” Even
...
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Intended audience for a book?
Is there an intended audience for a book, or intended readers? I want to say the targeted sphere of people that would buy and read the book. I mean, for whom the book was written. How do you say it ...
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A word (other than stationery) to describe a collection of 'paper, journals, books, invitations, wall art'
I am a designer and will be opening a store with 3 sections weddings, home and lifestyle. In all I will be selling wedding stationery suites (wedding invitations, place cards, menus etc) under the ...
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Meaning of a sentence in A History of Britain about Edward I
I faced this paragraph in "A History of Britain" by Simon Schama:
In the summer of 1263 the situation became critical. De Montfort and
his allies had captured most of southeastern England. ...
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2
answers
66
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Strange case of "such as seldom"
Excerpt from the book about Paul Morphy and his visit to Birmingham:
The cheers with which he was received were such as seldom came from others than Englishmen.
I'm having a hard time understanding ...
0
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1
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88
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Understanding Epictetus' burning down of the Capitol
Excerpt from Epictetus' Discourses, Book I, Chapter 8 (emphasis mine):
You know, I once said the same thing to Musonius when he reproached me for not discovering the omission in a certain syllogism. ...
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What does "call somebody's bluff" mean (in the context)?
I can't understand the meaning of this expression in the context.
‘Granddad was saying he was good for nothing, every badness was possible with him, but he didn’t drink and never had, so at least ...
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1
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175
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What does this quote of Elizabeth Gaskell mean?
How easy it is to judge rightly after one sees what evil comes from judging wrongly!
-Elizabeth Gaskell
user397295
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Is there any difference between ‘twisted, knotted up, spent, exhausted, pure solid burnt out’?
In Donal Ryan’s book ‘The Spinning Heart’ there is such description: “…she died, twisted and knotted up and spent, exhausted, pure solid burnt out from him.”
I wonder if these adjectives are ...
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Etymology of *spreadsheet* / an anachronistic use
Near the middle of chapter 14 of Murder Under A Blue Moon (2019, Abigail Keam) a character (Dexter) says, "It is an up-to-date spreadsheet of all your assets and liabilities." The story is ...
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What does "whisper thin" mean?
This phrase is from Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe by Josh Allen (2019) and I'm not sure what it means by whisper thin.
The cat was whisper thin and had a notch in its ear.
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Is it a valid noun "the built"?
I am reading a book The Business of the 21st Century and came across the word "built" used as a noun.
Building genuine wealth is as much about
the builder as it is about the built.
It is written ...
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Asking about Navigate coursebook of The Oxford University Press
I got 2 coursebooks of Navigate books bellow, I realize that the content of the two coursebook is different.
My question is that why are there difference between those coursebooks? Does that mean ...
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According to book "Wonder"
The author wrote " But I'm kind of used to how I look by now. I know how to pretend I don't see the faces people make."
I don't understand two sentences, can u explain it to me? And what does "Look by"...
35
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Debussy as term for bathroom?
In Michael Bishop's SF book Transfigurations (1979), the author (in the course of the narration by the main character) refers in several instances to one or another "debussy", by which he evidently ...
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How do I clarify to readers that the bolded dialogue question is a rhetorical question?
Two characters, Scythe Master and Claudia, are having a conversation in this book I'm translating. The first speaker is Scythe. (Bolded part is what I'm 87% sure is a rhetorical question, based on ...
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Book accommodation at your hotel? is it right?
I was wondering if saying "book accommodation at your hotel" is right
or should I say, "book the hotel" or something like that.
thanks
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Connected speech resources
I am very interested in British pronunciation, so I am looking for resources about connected speech and IPA in general.
The ideal would be a book with the transcription of dialogues or just ...
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What does it mean to "have an air of importance"?
What does the phrase in bold mean? This is given in the book "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens. The sentence:
He was quite bald. His clothes were shabby but he had an air of great importance. ...
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Does "no" mean "I agree with you"?
“It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him.”
“I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”
“He hasn’t much faith.”
“No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?”
...
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Are the names of statues italicized in a books? [closed]
Writing a novel.
Are the names of statues italicized in a books?
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Why is there a comma instead of a semicolon between the statement "'I'm sorry, I don't cry as much'"?
I'm reading a book No Apparent Distress by Rachel Pearson and saw a comma between the following compound sentence "'I'm sorry, I don't cry as much." Why is there a comma instead of a semicolon? Is ...
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the meaning of "Better off for it" and pronoun "they" from Stephen Hawking's article
The quote is:
But we should have been wary of answering back (to the questions of aliens), until we have develop a bit further. Meeting a more advanced civilisation (aliens from other planets), at ...
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Zero articles in movie and book titles
Can you please explain to me, why sometimes there's no article in the movie or book titles, even if these titles are singular count nouns.
For example:
"Junky" by William S. Burroughs or "Alien" by ...
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Why is the math in Winnie the Pooh's so poor? Is it deliberate? [closed]
Earlier, I was reading Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne and lit upon this passage:
Piglet is so small that he slips into a pocket, where it is very
comforting to feel him when you are not quite ...
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1
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What is the name of a written legacy of personal wisdom?
I am collecting the wisdom of elders, publishing in books their insights and stories, focused on the theme "What does your life stand for?"
I wonder if there is a name for such books. Or if we can ...
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Use of made up words in writing
In writing, mainly seen in novel writing, how should we put a word that doesn't exist?
for example, "We're screwed beyond levels of screwedness."
Please don't tell me that's too unprofessional and I ...
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What is the term for a marginal letter in a printed book?
Sometimes there are marginal letters in old books that serve as sort of an indexing mechanism. An example is shown in the detail below:
What are these elements of the book called?
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How should the name of a series of books be formatted?
I know that you underline – or if you're typing, you put the words in italics – the titles of books, and that you put chapters or quotations from a book in "quotes," but do you do anything to the font ...
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Is "Even so, we’ll keep walking" a valid sentence as a book title?
I was struggling to find a good title for a fiction I write, and a found this sentence in the english subtitles of a song. I'd like to know if it's a valid sentence as a standalone, or if it needs to ...
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What does “though less so ~” mean? [closed]
I’m reading a book about world history, and there is a phrase in a paragraph I have no idea:
“They were mostly connected to productive hinterlands, though less so in the case of Perth than the others....
